Dinner for Schmucks was not without its charm. If you are looking for a movie that will make you laugh, this will do the trick. But there were some problems. The movies felt like it had gone through too many brainstorming sessions in the writing process. At every plot point I could visualize a group of people sitting in a room and asking, "What is the worst thing that could happen for this scene?" and all of the resulting responses were then thrown into the script ad nauseum. Then they would brainstorm about how to make this terrible thing worse. As a quick example that doesn't give away any of the plot: Tim (Paul Rudd) forgets his phone on the way to a business lunch. Barry (Steve Carrell), after hearing a voicemail on said phone, stating that Tim needed to bring his girlfriend, goes and finds an unsuitalbe replacement. Tim then has to propose to this terrible stalker-woman in the restaurant. What is the worst thing that could happen at that point? His girlfriend walks in. Then the stalker-woman beats his car to death with a steal pole.
The problems with this movie outweigh the jokes. An hour into the movie, the plot sags and you get used to the worst possible scenarios that keep occurring. The jokes get predictable and the laughs die off. BUT!!! And this is a big but, toward the end the movie gets a sudden burst of energy and it become the movie it should have been all along. With fast-paced comedy and lots of laughs, it carries through to the finish. The only other problems at that point are with the plot's resolution where we get to see many inconsistencies with the story. Characters working together who should loath one another, etc.
Overall, the movie was entertaining and the last 15 minutes will leave you feeling like it wasn't a complete waste. But then again I saw the movie during a pre-screening and didn't have to pay. So maybe you should wait for this one on DVD and Blu-ray.
No comments:
Post a Comment